Vector Car Firm Figures It's Time to Varoom

David Kostka, the 32-year-old vice president of engineering, has been with Vector for 10 years. The delivery of the first Vector contains some vindication for the firm and its employees, said Kostka, who smiles as he recalls his first years with the company when friends wondered how the car would ever find buyers.

"When the car was first offered at $125,000, they'd ask me, 'What are you doing? Who's going to pay that for a car?,' " Kostka recalled. "But now, we see the market for high-value cars has caught up and even passed what we're asking in price. Now, people think nothing of laying out $800,000 for an order position on an F40."

And that, according to those at Vector Aeromotive, is the market they hoped for.

"Even if we had gotten all the funding we needed five years ago, this is the perfect time to be delivering this product because the market has grown so dramatically for these cars," Wiegert said.

Bob Mulhern, owner of Beverly Hills Exotic Coach Works, said: "There are plenty of rich people in this world who can invest big money in unique, exotic cars."

Like other super-car dealers and collectors, Mulhern says he has known about the Vector for years. "Buyers from all over the world are probably familiar with it by now. It is a very unique car. . . . So it shouldn't have any problem selling at all. And because of the limited numbers that will be produced, I'm sure it will hold its value."

Wiegert can't wait.

"I like exciting things. I don't like boring things. That's why I don't design toilet seats," Wiegert says. "In this case, we're building something that is an investment, something that provides pleasure. And to drive this car compared to a new sports car off some lot is the difference between flying in a Cessna and flying in an F-18."